Apparatus for curing food products.



C. B. TRESGOTT.

APPARATUS FOR CUR/ING FOOD PRODUCTS. APPLICATION inn JAN. g7, 1911.

3 3 Paten tgd Nov. 28, 1911.

UNITE-1 sTAT' s PATENT orrrcn.

CHARLES B. TRESCOT'I,

0F AN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO. HENRY L. MILLISQO F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ArrAaArus. ronscumne r001) rnonuc'rs.

Patented Nov, 28. 1911..

v "i". 1 ,01032'7 Specification f. Letters Patent.

Application filed amal- 27, 1911. seriaino. 604,990.

To all whom it may concern." I

-Be it known that I, CHARLES B.;T.iiissoor'r, a citizen of the United States, iding at- San Francisco, in the county of San Fran cisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Curing Food-Products, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a iiew and im-' proved apparatus for curing food products, b means of what is known s asmoking process, and in which the products 'aOf the combustion of wood are brought into 'contact with-the uncured meat=to effect the changes therein which are known as curing; It Wlll be understood that'flthe products of combustion, which are commonly known as smoke, consist of a mixture of various products, some of which have desirable curative qualities, and sooty or, black particles, which consist largely of unburned carbon and give the smoke itsjdlstlntgtive appearance.

In carrying on my curing process, I make use of such products as creosote' an'd carbon dioxid, which have the desira l e curative qualities, and I reject the sooty or tarry black matterfi. I then make provision for controlling the temperature, humidity, draft, etc., of the curative products, in order to subject the meat to' their action i-n the most advantageous manner. I V

In the smoke curing of meat; it Will be understood that a certain amountuof evaporation of its moisture takes place' This tends to reduce its volume and weight,.producing what is'known as shrinkage, and

I effecting, to some extent, a loss of such matter by shrinkage. In order to overcome this loss as inuch as poss1ble,-means should be provided for initially formlng a dry skin or layer on the outer surface of thejncat,

which, while permitting the curative. prodnets to penetrate into the body of'the' meat, largely prevents thelossof moisturef: oi g W'ardly. 1

the exact temperature at which it is carried .one class of meat is different from that for another class; consequently, I provide meanS' process to the best advantage. An ezrcessof It will be understood that the success er-a5 smoke curing process depends largely upon' Also, that the proper temperature for}:

temperature"tends to cause unnecessary shrinkage and loss in the meat blocks, as well as tendinghto spoil theirappearance and flavor. When the process is carried on at too low a temperature, it is unnecessarily s l'owand is not thorough.

In carrylng on my curing process,

'means of the apparatus of the present invention, Iprovide means forrejectin'g the sootyand black matter from the products of combustion, leaving only those products which have desirable curative qualities.

It will be understood that, asthe curing faces, they deposit their sooty matter on said surfaces, so that the same is carried away with the moisture. g"

In'order to secure the necessary, precipitation of moisture for dryin'gthecurative products, they must have their temperature suddenly reduced on the condenser a suflicient number of degrees. This amount of cooling, should preferably be not less than 10 F L Inorder to secure this necessary fall intemperature on the condenser, the curative products should sometimes strike the cooling surfaces at agtemperature in excess of that desirable for carrying on. the curing process in'the curin' chamber. This being the case, the curative. products must be heated after they have passed over themeat' V but before they strike the cooling surfaces of the condenser. I therefore provide a heater inproper location to heat the curative prod- ,ucts after they leave the meat and before they are cooled in the condenser. It will be un derstood that after the curative {products [have been cooled in thecondenser to' precipt te their moisture they are returned to' the curing chamber. Where they again en- .EOu'nter the meat.' In .case'they should be I cooled by the condenser. to a temperature beprgeess, they should be reheated before they Ioiv that desirable for carrying on the curing the coinlenser in themoet atli ahtageo u'sl'po jthesuppl y new curative p ducts to the sition,"'nan iely, ol ftheY'to p" ofthe Caring" s stein; y chanih {then proyitle 'lown' drafti '1' 4 I t thecurative iii'oduets'is which earries the eoi l ga s 'fi ointhecon the a fws i A fter lea? n'g'the denser to the lower par 1 tli "Ehrii 'Qehaiii -ellarr 'heif," they s "through th'e'conherj murder to Still 'tlier eool'thegafses :de'nser they hai'e the'irmoisturerein this klowii draft tlue,1\\'hen:desired, I su r fl am \'-@t1 1t *a ee -min 'deglfegjtil tl111C t ey;1 round the s: with a: pa' rtit'ion s1 ted aw y trough "theftlowi' tlraft 'fhie .to the from thethteapropt 'tlistane'ejtoproi'idelaj portionofl'theeu ingfcliamber, "after pas ige1 )r 1tlie upwardi'nrorementhof air; h'th'eeyel isrepeated;" I11theconStrucwhich serres to still further eoo'l" the ge -63hr ,l'ion'illh tratet a he ugfeeil '1 G'is'pr peily sth eftlow'ii klratt' tlue. It fw'll lie;1u1tle1'7st ,iotl llojea tet toheat the proghietsht' combustion f w 1 1 5 are so rel'atu hat theTetiTeeti Zat'ter they have 'p'a' al'ov rfthe neat'blocks of this flown (um tlue is toaill i n,.itlie ere- =hutihefhre they ente therontle iser. ation ot the mam-rajm rge)"um even i'i It' is seen that the natural m t ment of ne artitieialfnr ansu'ere 1'),io\i le la sutlieient the (au-atire protluets will he that' sh hy drat't for properly vearryin'g iattlie.process 1 5 1 1 ll' florationof;t tt tQ3l JgC 1 1539 ily exist. i I v y y gllo yu eraill mile" to aee'elerate this moy'ehearhvl freon the eii i'iu g pr oer it is inen't an'il iiuilgepu, o't thfe downj klraftj' fine heating, although it will be understooct that the functions of this heater are entirely different ancl distinct trom those of the first mentioned heater.

I make use of the heater;\vhiehheats the curative protluets before they strike the eomlenfser, for another purpose, to-wit': for aitliug in thefereatien ot the Circulation of the eurat-ire protluetshy natiu'al'tlraft. It is a xteuimam faet that a olumii of 'cool' gas tends to descend, while a warni ,eohiiin' tends to ascend I nia'keil sefiof lthjfact for" the creatioil ofthenattti'hltlr t'tQby plalcing desired to first Create or form a lry sliiiron, the ontsnle of the meat. I SIKFlI H l UI I w ll largely prerent a further lose [of moisture new gases whiehhare theeurat-ire proper-1 ties, as t'ast as requu'e l; l o this .entll pro Ville means "for artitieially rontrolliug, the rate of eh-rotation, although lt- ;wlll heuu-j tlerstood that sai harlitieial means art inii,

(Ulljlltll'llflll \\'ltll':ltltl I however;mul in ig.2 I show more-tin do}; tall the lo\\'ei="portion o-l" tlieih-nyn tlrat't tlue in eonjum-tionwith a tan whicl' may he used -ontrollingjthe rlraft. :J 1 e the" figure. th mmet-a1 3;.desi'guate,

meat or othhiufidihles are supported in any I of the iiifth e":llue villrbehin H ture will ,(llfil-irtltHYlli tHi'l'Qulllt wording-st the curing: ehanyief, In which the blocks of 1' suitable manner The numeral 4 designates ---the condenser In the construction illusvber by means of connections 9. A clown draft; flue 10' hasfits lipper end I1 suitably connected to 'tli elrn'anifold T, and' its lower Qentl siii't'ahly coni're'eted to theio wer pore Etion' of the during ,-1 mmberg The" generator 13" is 'eonheet'etl in. shunt with the" pipes 9',

maimed, A m I \Vheualesiretlfan Xiliary heater 1S) may he user] ,t'oi' eeoiitrolling,the temperature at; whit-h therelu'ative .prorlnels eneou nter the hloehs o l .meatl; It w i] lihe unilerstootll how eyer. that iu .generalthis auxiliary heateris uot ueetleth amt that its ftllu'tiun is entirelyjtli tl'ereuti an; that of the heater 1th,, The heater it) serves to iusureethat thecurative 'l'irolluets shall strike the eomleust. a t; a,sut'- tieieutlyliigli tempeiature sothatthey will Zhe retlueetl in temporalureiasutlieient amount to reei it-ate their :moistu re,. This nails.-

lleete l :in. jilj-b'ttllts' ml- .v v l1tttttl.; the :lootizrml other tarry matter will he eaught in the moisture on the surfaces so that they will be age Isurroui'nl the same;

' eoipie'rting, the ,etuu' tercurrent. v

carried down into the trays :20, and, by connecting the latter to a suitable discharge,

the moisture and soot may be carried away.

In the modified construction shown in Fi 2, a fan 21 is provided for controlling the rate of circulation of tl'iecura'tive products. It will be understood that this fan acts in addition to thenatural movement of the gases as created by the down draft flue instead of in oppositionto such movement. lhere't'ore, it is only necessary to usethe fan to accelerate and control the rate of circulation, and often the use of the-fan will be um'iecessary.

A rheostat may be provided for controlling the speed of the fan, thereby controlling the rate of circu'lationot' the c'ura-' tive products in accordance with requirements; It willbe understood'that the natural draft is greatly affected by the temperatu re; whi ch exist 1 in the. en ring, chamber and coi'idensing' chamber asfwell outside ot'lhe ap 'iaratus: consequently such means for controlling 'the rate of circulation will permit the operator [to obtain just that amount of circulation which is necessary'or'desirable at, each stage ofthe curing process, regardless ofthe required temperatures Within the (curing anc'l condensing chambers, as well as the temperature of the outside atmosphere. A pet cock 2'2 may be provided for carrying otlanyn oisture which may collect in the down draft flue.

will befund'erstriod that;certain of the curativeproducts are very volatile, so' that, unless'the:aj'iparatus nwh-ich thisprooess 15 ca l tried on be comparati-vely tight, these products will be wasted and the etiiciency ot' the process correspondingly reduced. Furthermore, it willbc understood that the ar rangcmcntof the parts is peculiarly adapted .ior the provision of a system in which the circulation of the products is etfected by natural drat't. This being the case, the apparatus slrould be tight enough to reducethe leakage to such a point that the natural drat'ts will be suflicient to. produceproper circulation.

\Vhen desired, a stream of watt other volatile liquid may be allowed-top trickle downthe outside of the pipes 5 ot'the condenser, so that the cooling ell'cct o-tithe condenser will be increased by reason of the evaporation ofsaid liquid and the consequent removal of the latent heat "of evaporation.

I claim: v

1. 'In an apparatus for curing food products, the combination of a curing chamber, a condensing chamber connected therewith, means for generating curative products in shunt with the connection between the curing chamber and the condensing,chamber, and a return connection from the condensing chamber to the curing chamber, with a l h a ,heater suitably interposed in the pathof circulation of'curatlve products between the curing chamber and the condensing chamber, substantially as described;

2. In an apparatus for curing food products, the combination of a curing chamber, a condensing chamber connected therewith, a down draft connection from the upper portion of the condensii'ig chamber to the lower portion of the curing chamber, and a heater suitably interposed ilrtlie path at circulation of curative products between the curing chamber and the condensing chamber, with means for generating curative products in shunt between the upperportion of the curing chamber and the lower portion of the condensi ng chamber, scribedl I I V r 3. In an apparatus 'lfOhctlllIig food prod- -ucts, .the combination of a curing chamber,

afcondensing chamber, superimposed on the same and directly connected therewith, and a returnconnection from the condensing chambe r to the curing chamber, with a heater suitably interposed in the path of n ovementot curative productsbetween the curing chamber and the condensing chambers, toj heat the curative products immediately in advance of their contact with the condensing surfaces, and means for controlling the rate of n'iovement of the curative products through the apparatus, substantii'l'ly 'as" described-J I 4. Titan appara't usjfor,curing'food products,-t-he combination of a curing chamber, a condensing chamber superimposed on the same and connected therewith, and a down draft connection from the upper portion of the'comlensing chamber to the lower portion of the curing chamber, with a heater suitably interposed in the path of movement substantially as de-' of the curative products between the curing chamber aml the condensing chamber, and artificial means for controllin 1 the rate of movement of the curative products through the apparatus, and comprising a fan or the like, acting in a direction to accelerate said movement, substantially as described.

In an apparatus for curing food l)1'()(]- ucts, the combination ot a curing chamber, a condensing chamber connected therewith, means for generating curative products in shunt with the connection between the curing chamber and the condensing chamber, aml a return connection from the condensing chamber to the curing chamber, with a heater suitably interposed in the path of movement. of the curative products between the curing chamber and the condensing chamber. and a .second heater suitably intel-posed in the path ol.movement ol" the curative products, to raise their ell'c-ctivo temperature in the curing chamber to the desired degree, subslmitially as described.

6; In an apparatus for curing l'ood products, the combination of a curing chamber, a condensing chamber superimposed on the same and connected therewith, and a'down draft connection exte'n'ding from the upper portion of the condensingchamber 'to' the lower portion Of'the curing chamber, and

means for effecting a difference of temperature between curatlve products 1n the upper and lower portions of saiddown draft connection, substantially'a's described. I

7. In an apparatusfor'curin'g foodproducts, the combination of a'curing chamber, a

condensing chamber superimposed 'on the same and connected therewith, and: a down draft connection fro'm'the upper'porti'onof the condensing chamber to' the lower portion of the curing chamber, with a heater-suite ablyinterp'osed'inthe path of movement of the curative productsbetween thefcuring chamber and the condensing chamber, and

means'for effecting a difference of temperaturebetween the curative products in the upper and lower portions of said down draft connection, substantially as-"describe'd, 8; Inan apparatus for curing food products, the combination of a curing chamber, a" condensing chamber su'penmposed on the of the curative productsthrough the apparatus, "comprising a fan'or' the like, and means, as a rheostat, for controlling the speed ofsaid fan, substantiallyas described.

, 9. In-an apparatus for curing food products, the combination of a curing chamber, a

condensing chamber connected therewith, a downdraft connectionfrom the upper portion 'o'f'tlie condensing chamber to the lower portion of the curing chamber, and a heater suitably'interposedin the path of circulationof curative products to bring the temperature within the curing chamber to the desired point, with means for generating "curative p'roducts' i'n shunt between the up perportionof the curing chamberand thew r portion of the condensing chamber, substantially as described.

" 10'. In an apparatus for curing food products, the combination of a curing chamber,

a condensing chamber superimposed on the same and connected therewith, and a return connection from the condensing chamber downwardlyto the curing chamber, With a heaterinterpo sedin' the path of movement of curative-product's and situated between -tl1e :curmg chamber and the condensing chamber to heat the" curative products in their upward movement after they leave the food" products and before'they strike the cooling surfaces of the condensing chamber,;;whereby the-itemperature of the cura-- tive products is raised above that of the cooling surfaces Without increasing the. temperature of the curative products at the point where: they: strike thev food products,

substantially as described.

'Witnesse's; THOMASAuBANNING, Jr.,

MARY R. FROST jo AfRL s njrnnsoor 

